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 Purdue University researchers have begun a study
that would help determine if continuously collected biometric
smartwatch data could be used to reliably and accurately detect
these signs early, which could indicate that a potentially
asymptomatic user should get tested for COVID-19.
Data from the study will inform new algorithms to be developed by
physIQ, a Purdue-affiliated digital health technology company based
in Chicago. The company has support from the Purdue Research
Foundation’s Foundry Investment Fund.
Smartwatches on the market already collect a wide range of
physiologic data, but incorporating metrics such as heart rate,
heart rate variability and respiration rate that may help detect
COVID-19 at the earliest stages will take more research, studies by
companies such as Fitbit have stated.
Although smartwatch-like devices are not currently substitutes for
gold-standard diagnostic tests used in clinics and hospitals, some
wearable devices are starting to serve as tools for helping a
clinician make a diagnosis.
“There won’t be a point where a smartwatch can tell you that you’re
COVID-19 positive, but it could potentially say, ‘Within the next
couple of days, you might be getting sick and should go get
tested,’” said Craig Goergen, Purdue’s Leslie A. Geddes Associate
Professor of Biomedical Engineering.
Previous studies have shown that viral infections increase resting
heart and respiration rates and decrease heart rate variability
before a patient develops a fever, Goergen said. It’s not yet known
if these indicators, particularly respiration rate, can be measured
reliably enough at the wrist to imply infection.
“An increased heart rate or respiration rate means something
different if it increased while you were resting as opposed to
running, but most smartwatches have difficulty distinguishing that.
So it is really recovery and resting periods that we are focused on
with this approach,” Goergen said.
In a study of up to 100 participants, Goergen’s team will first
determine whether wearing a smartwatch to collect these indicators
is practical, unobtrusive and user-friendly. The researchers are
recruiting Purdue students, staff and faculty as study participants.
Each participant will be mailed a Samsung Galaxy
smartwatch with a physIQ app loaded to collect data, FDA-cleared
adhesive chest-based biosensors that collect a single-lead
electrocardiogram signal, and a Samsung Galaxy smartphone to use for
five days of continuous monitoring while Goergen’s lab analyzes data
from the app remotely using physIQ’s cloud-based accelerateIQ
platform. Data from the chest patches will
be processed by physIQ’s FDA-cleared artificial intelligence-based
algorithms for deriving heart rate, respiration rate and heart rate
variability. These data will serve as “gold standard” references to
compare with data from the smartwatches.
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Researchers led by Fengqing Maggie Zhu, a Purdue
assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, will
analyze data collected by Goergen’s lab and determine how much of it
could be used to train algorithms for developing smartwatch software
aimed at detecting these metrics better. Watchband tightness, for
example, could affect data availability and quality.
“We recognize this work as the first step in enabling advanced
personalized analytics for continuous monitoring of individuals
using smartwatch data,” said Stephan Wegerich, physIQ’s chief
science officer. “This could lead to a solution that is applicable
to many physiological monitoring applications in both clinical trial
markets as well as in health care delivery.”
The end goal is that the software, which a smartwatch would access
from a cloud-based server, would show subclinical changes in metrics
unique to the individual by “learning” from large amounts of data
continuously collected while wearing the watch.
The researchers plan to eventually expand the study to include
individuals at high risk of contracting COVID-19.
The work is funded by a faculty innovations grant from Protect
Purdue, the university’s initiative to keep the campus and
surrounding community safe from COVID-19.
About physIQ
PhysIQ is a leading digital medicine company dedicated to generating
unprecedented health insight using continuous wearable biosensor
data and advanced analytics. Its enterprise-ready cloud platform
continuously collects and processes data from any wearable biosensor
using a deep portfolio of FDA-cleared analytics. The company has
published one of the most rigorous clinical studies to date in
digital medicine and are pioneers in developing, validating, and
achieving regulatory approval of Artificial Intelligence-based
analytics. With applications in both healthcare and clinical trial
support, physIQ is transforming continuous physiological data into
insight for health systems, payers, and pharmaceutical companies.
For more information, please visit www.physIQ.com. Follow us on
Twitter and LinkedIn.
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a top public research institution developing
practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 5
Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World
Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and
out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online,
real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to
all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen
tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than
ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the
persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https://purdue.edu/.
[Writer, Media contact: Kayla Wiles
Source: Craig Goergen] |
